SILAGE. 



229 



too much moisture on the leaves is likely to be followed by the growth 

 of mischievous microorganisms. Molds are the most common 

 injurious organisms to appear under these conditions, but bacteria 

 may also develop and produce disastrous results. From the time 

 the tobacco begins to grow in the field until it has reached its final 

 state as a completed product, it is subject to a considerable number 

 of diseases. It is a very delicate plant, and slight changes in 

 moisture or temperature are almost sure to bring about troubles of 

 some kind that injure or ruin the crop. Of these troubles some are 

 produced by molds or special fungi, and some by bacteria. The 

 consideration of these various troubles, whether bacteiial or of a 

 different nature, concerns only the person interested in raising tobacco 

 and is of no special interest to the agriculturist in general. We 

 shall not, therefore, further consider them in this work. 



SILAGE. 



In the silo the agriculturist has devised a method of utilizing 

 certain food products of which the soil yields large crops, but which 

 contain so much water that they lose their value in great measure 

 when dried. The silo not only enables him to preserve such food, 

 but it impregnates it with new flavors which, in some respects, en- 

 hance its value, for it makes a product especially relished by cattle. 



Preparation. In the preparation of silage the material to be 

 used, most commonly corn not fully ripe, is cut into moderately 

 small pieces and packed away firmly as a solid mass, in a tall, air- 

 tight compartment. Sometimes the silo is filled quickly, and some- 

 times more slowly, and the rapidity should depend upon the rapidity 

 of fermentation. After the silo is filled it is closed at the top, and 

 frequently subjected to considerable pressure. The contents are, 

 thus, largely deprived of air. Air, of course, gets in around the 

 top, but there is little or none around the sides or bottom, so that 

 only the superficial layers are affected by it. 



Fermentation. After the packing important and profound 

 changes take place in the silage. The first phenomenon to be 

 noticed is a rapid rise in temperature, the primary fermentation. 



